The General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan issued an order earlier this year providing a proactive protection of rights and interests of investors in Kazakhstan. This LawFlash summarizes key takeaways from the recently adopted recommendations for implementation of a so-called “prosecutor’s filter.”
Order No. 21, Approving Methodical Recommendations for Implementation of a “Prosecutor’s Filter” for Investors’ Protection (Prosecutor’s Filter), became effective on 14 February 2024.
The objective of the Prosecutor’s Filter is to protect the rights and interests of the investors in Kazakhstan by carrying out following functions:
- Approval of the following prohibitive and restrictive measures imposed by the state authorities and quasi-state entities in relation to investors representing medium and large business:
- Suspension of the operational activity of the investor (facility or its separate section), action, process
- Suspension, revocation of a permit, and/or annex to the permit
- Refusal to extend the validity period of a permit
- Cancellation (revocation) of a decision of the state authority previously made in favor of the investor
- Unilateral termination of a contract or agreement by the state authority or a quasi-state entity, or revocation of a tariff
In case the Prosecution Office disapproves prohibitive and restrictive measures, such decision must be reasonable and substantiated and contain specific facts and references to the law refuting the arguments of the state authorities that there is a need to apply prohibitive and restrictive measures against the investor.
- Monitoring, analyzing, and assessing legitimacy of cases on administrative violations against investors, which is done on a daily basis via electronic systems and databases of the Committee of Legal Statistics and Special Records. Certain administrative cases are exempt from such monitoring—for example, when the investor agrees with the violation.
- Approval of acts and decisions of tax authorities on the appointment of tax audits against investors before the tax inspection commences
- Assessment of legitimacy and validity of lawsuits initiated by the state authorities against investors finalized until the end of the preparation to the hearings